Marquette in Sweet 16 after upsetting Syracuse
Syracuse led Marquette by as many 10 points midway through the first half. On the heels of a 32-point blowout of George Mason by Ohio State, it looked like Cleveland might be the only NCAA tournament site without a controversial or thrilling ending.
Then the Golden Eagles made a charge.
Despite shooting just 37.5 percent to Syracuse’s 52 percent, Marquette led 34-31 at halftime in Quicken Loans Arena.
The 11th-seeded Golden Eagles forced third-seeded Syracuse into 10 turnovers. Marquette made 7 of 7 free throws while the Orange made just one attempt on one try from the free throw line.
Darius Johnson-Odom led the Marquette with 12 points.
Marquette also outrebounded Syracuse 18-13, pulling down nine offensive boards. Jae Crowder had five rebounds, with three on the offensive glass.
Syracuse was in a rare four-game losing slump back in January and Marquette took advantage.
The Orange have vowed they won’t resemble the team that lost in Milwaukee 76-70 in January when the big East teams meet for the second time this season. this time the stakes are higher with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament to play No. 2 seed North Carolina.
Third-seeded Syracuse has ramped up its defense since that meeting and has won nine of its last 12 games, including a tournament victory against Indiana State.
No. 11 Marquette, which lost several games this season by one or two possessions, has already exceeded expectations in the tournament by knocking off sixth-seeded Xavier on Friday night.